Rites of Passage
by LdyAnne
Summary: When the shield on M7G-677 stops working, Team Sheppard goes to the children’s aid. But when the Wraith attack, who’s going to come to their aid?


John stood in the doorway of the little room and stared around in a mixture of awe and dread. He felt hot and cold just standing there looking in. The hair on the back of his neck was standing up and goose bumps were springing up on his arms. He thought he might be sick.

He had an office. Who knew?

It was an ordinary enough looking room (as ordinary as anything was in Atlantis). There was a desk with a blotter on it (Who brought a blotter to another galaxy? Marshall Sumner obviously). It was supposed to be Sumner's office, but Sumner had never even been in it. He hadn't been in Atlantis long enough to choose a room for an office and have his stuff set up there. Bates had taken care of it and had mentioned casually at the morning briefing that everything was ready for Sheppard.

John had done everything he could think of to avoid the room: sparring with Teyla (getting his ass kicked by Teyla), weapons inventory with Ford, PT with the marines (getting his ass kicked by the marines), an interminable meeting with Elizabeth about supplies and priorities, stopping at the lab to pester McKay. When he couldn't put it off any longer, he'd found the tiny room just where Bates said it would be. There was even a piece of duct tape on the wall next to the door with his name on it written in black marker (Bates had a mean sense of humor). The only good thing about the office was the floor-to-ceiling window with a glorious view of the city and the surrounding ocean. Yeah, he'd be able to avoid work while enjoying the view.

It looked so ordinary, so like an office that it almost hurt. The desk was something smooth and shiny and Ancient. There was one of the ubiquitous government lap tops with the Atlantis symbol sitting on the desk off to the side and an in-box placed on the front edge of the desk. There was a filing cabinet that he was not looking forward to exploring. He just knew that he'd find a file in there with his name on it and _'this one's trouble'_ written in Sumner's handwriting on it somewhere, maybe several times.

He crossed the room slowly and sat in the chair. He didn't know what he expected. Sumner's ghost to appear out of nowhere and throw him summarily out of the office? Maybe not, but it was certainly on his mind because he didn't think he deserved the office. He hadn't earned the office or the post as military commander of Atlantis. He'd only gotten there by killing his commanding officer. And as much as he (and Elizabeth, Ford, Carson and even Rodney McKay) told himself it was a mercy that he had done for Sumner, he couldn't forget that it had been his finger on the trigger that had killed the man. It weighed heavily on him that he was the one who was now in charge of the base. That he'd finally gotten a command by killing his commanding officer.

But now Sumner had his revenge, John was doing his paperwork. Not that John had never done paperwork before. He'd filled out his share of reports, but he'd never been responsible for an entire base's paperwork before.

He pulled open the drawer. Inside he found a neat stack of legal pads – actual paper in the Pegasus Galaxy (Had Sumner never heard of a PDA?). Along with the legal pads, there was a supply of pencils. At least they were the mechanical kind and he didn't have to find a pencil sharpener. There were the usual office supplies: a stapler, a tape dispenser, a highlighter. Even counting the Wraith and the Irratus bug incident, it was about his most surreal moment in the Pegasus Galaxy when he discovered the paper clips. Oh, yeah, the Wraith should run in fear of them now, they had paper clips and rubber bands.

He turned his attention to the in-box; it had a label on it _'mission reports.'_ There was already a neat stack of reports in it. He rolled his eyes at that wondering who in the hell had already been writing mission reports. He wasn't overly surprised to find that they were signed _Aiden Ford._ The kid was so eager. Of course he would come straight back to Atlantis and type up his mission report. It would be easy to be irritated with the kid if he weren't so likeable.

John leaned back in the chair and swung his legs up onto the desk. He squashed the urge to look around and make sure no one was watching him with disapproval. It was his office, dammit; he could put his feet on the desk if he wanted. He heaved a heavy sigh as he picked up the first report and opened it.

_As soon as we stepped through the wormhole into the city, the lights started going on._

John remembered the feeling he'd gotten as he stepped through the wormhole into Atlantis, a feeling of extreme dissonance—of at once being in a place that was so different he couldn't possibly understand it, and yet it felt familiar, like coming home. Then the lights had started coming on and their problems had started. He didn't have time to think anymore about it before they were in a fight for their life.

_It was a shock to find that the whole city was underwater. Dr. McKay insisted that we had to leave right away because we'd used up too much power and the shields holding back the water were going to fail at any minute. There was a list of addresses in the data base and we dialed the first one we found._

It all happened so fast. Finding the city almost waiting for them, practically untouched and then the scramble to find a safe harbor because theirs was about to be deluged with 2,000 feet of ocean…

John shut the report; he didn't need to read anymore. He knew (all too well) how the report ended with Sumner captured by the Wraith and John leading the rescue party. He remembered the thrill of discovering the jumpers and taking one up for the first time. It was all jumbled up with the horror of what the Wraith had done to Sumner, what John had done to Sumner.

He put the rest of Ford's very neat reports back into the basket. There was no way he could deal with it. He tapped his radio.

"Hey, McKay, you need me down in the lab? Any Ancient doo-dads you need me to turn on for you?"

"What?" McKay's voice in John's ear sounded distracted and irritated, pretty good for just one word. "Don't bother me, I'm busy. If I need you, you'll be the first to know." John sighed and pushed himself to his feet. There had to be something else he could do to avoid his paperwork, some emergency somewhere that would call for the presence of the acting military commander.

It was at that precise moment the alarm sounded that announced an unscheduled wormhole.

"Unscheduled off-world activation," the gate tech announced making it official.

"Thank you," John breathed to whatever deity it was that saved a person from unwanted paperwork and ran out of his door to the gateroom.

Elizabeth was already there and oddly enough so was Rodney. They stood behind the tech peering over his shoulder at his computer.

"Receiving a transmission from M7G-677," John heard the tech announce as he arrived. John leaned in to see whatever it was that Elizabeth and Rodney were looking at. Not much from what he could see.

"The planet with the kids?" John asked rocking back on his heels.

"Please, can I talk to Dr. Rodney?" a little girl's tearful voice filled the gateroom. Everyone looked up from what they were doing to turn to Rodney, who blushed a furious red.

"What?" he blustered, glaring back at them. "So, I gave Cleo the gate address and a radio. I thought she might need it if there was an emergency. You know, like if they needed more chocolate or something." He bent down and jabbed a button on the console, doing his best to gather the shards of his offended dignity around him.

John grinned at Elizabeth, "He's just a big softie, I knew it," he said sotto-voice, but still loudly enough that Rodney could hear.

Rodney scowled at them. "Who is this?" he demanded.

"It's Cleo, is this Dr. Rodney?"

"This is Dr. Rodney McKay," he answered glowering under his brows at the techs around him who snickered not so under their breath. "Is there a problem, Cleo?"

"Keras is gone and the shield that you fixed for us is broken." Although her words were oddly mature (it reminded John of one of his marines delivering a bullet-point list so he got all the information quickly) there was a lisp over the word 'fixed' as if Cleo couldn't quite pronounce it yet, "It stopped working and the Wraith came. They've already culled one village and everyone's afraid they're going to come back. Can you come fix our shield, Dr. Rodney? I promise I'll be really good and I won't talk the entire time you're here."

There was silence in the control room at her words. Rodney's mouth worked a couple of time before he could get actual words out. "Cleo, did you come to the gate alone to call us?"

"Yes, Dr. Rodney, there wasn't anyone else in the village to do it; they were all helping the people who were hurt by the Wraith. Please, Dr. Rodney, we need you."

Rodney glanced up at John and Elizabeth pleading, they both nodded at him. Of course they'd help.

"Cleo," Rodney said, "I want you to come through the gate now," he started.

"But, Dr. Rodney," she protested, "they need me here."

"Cleo, listen to me," Rodney talked fast, overriding her little voice. "We need a lot more information if we're going to help you. You're the best person to get it from." John nodded his approval. "Now, you come through the gate and we'll go help your people as fast as we can. Alright?" Rodney pushed the button that would drop the shield on their gate.

There wasn't an answer, but after a moment's silence, Cleo stepped through the gate. She was so small and alone, standing in front of the gate, surrounded by marines who sheepishly held their guns at the ready.

Rodney bounded down the steps to push Cleo behind him, effectively putting himself between the men with the guns and the little girl. He bristled at the marines. "Would you put those away?" He scowled at the marines when they didn't move fast enough to suit him. "It's not like she's going to be taking over Atlantis single-handedly." The marines looked up at Sheppard for confirmation. He nodded and then followed Rodney as he barreled down the hall, Cleo in tow.

He caught up with him at the mess hall. Rodney had set the little girl up at a table with a full tray piled with all the delicacies that were Rodney's favorites. He pulled up a chair in time to hear Cleo say,

"We need to go back, Dr. Rodney. No one knows where I am. They'll be worried."

Rodney opened a pudding cup and shoved it toward her, "What about Casta?" he asked.

Tears filled her eyes and she sniffed, but her voice was steady as she answered, "He was taken by the Wraiths." She pushed the tray away and even Rodney appeared to have lost his appetite.

"Alright," he nodded decisively, "let's go see Elizabeth."

--SGA--

After the decision was made that they would return to the children's planet and see if they could figure out what had happened and fix their shield device, it only took the team 20 minutes to gear up and meet in the jumper bay. Cleo clutched Elizabeth's hand tightly, her mouth set in a mulish line. God help them all, it reminded Elizabeth of Rodney McKay at his most stubborn.

"Why can't I go with you?" she asked plaintively, her lower lip trembling and her eyes tearing up. "I can help you," she insisted. She turned a pleading look up to McKay. Elizabeth was glad she hadn't turned it her direction because there was no way she'd have been able to tell Cleo no.

Rodney looked stricken, like he'd finally found a problem he couldn't solve. "A little help here, people," he muttered out of the side of his mouth to his team.

Ford took pity on him and went down to one knee, "Hey, you know what?" he said. He put a comforting hand on Cleo's shoulder. "We know you'd be a lot of help." He looked over his shoulder at the rest of his team and they all nodded their heads obediently. Turning back to Cleo, he continued earnestly, "But we'd be worried about you and it might keep us from helping the rest of your people. You stay here with Dr. Weir, okay? In case we need you. Okay?" Ford didn't talk down to her; he addressed her as an equal. Cleo drew up her shoulders and gave him a watery smile.

"Okay." She threw her arms around him and held on tightly before turning and throwing her arms around McKay's knees. Elizabeth had to suppress a smile.

Rodney's mouth turned down in a frown, but his eyes were suspiciously bright. "Now you've gone and ruined the moment," he told her, but he drew a chocolate bar from his pocket and handed it to her.

"We'll be back." He patted her shoulder gently, then extracted his knees from her embrace and gave her a little push towards Elizabeth. He straightened and saw that the rest of his team was watching him with smiles hovering on their lips.

"Oh, what are you people looking at?" He glared at them and tugged on his tac vest nervously as he stomped on board the jumper, followed closely by Teyla and Sheppard. Ford gave Cleo a bright smile and a wave before he disappeared inside.

"Be safe," Elizabeth said softly as the hatch raised to seal them inside. She took a firm grip on Cleo's hand. "Would you like to come with me to watch them leave?"

Cleo rubbed her eyes with a grubby fist, but she nodded. She trotted to keep up with Elizabeth as they made their way to the control room.

--SGA--

John went through the pre-flight check, thinking over what they knew. They hadn't been able to get much more intel from Cleo than what she'd told them in her initial call for help. Despite her behavior and grown-up mannerisms, she was still just a kid. She was frightened out of her mind for her family and friends and she'd called on the only help she knew. John hoped that it wasn't as bad as she painted, but he was determined to do whatever he could to help the kids. They hadn't saved them from their suicide ritual only to lose the children to the Wraith. Smoothly he lifted the puddlejumper from the hanger bay floor as McKay handled dialing the gate.

In the co-pilot's seat McKay fiddled with his workpad, doing whatever it was that McKay did. John could see that he was nervous, too, about what they were going to find. It was kind of amusing watching McKay try to pretend that he didn't care about anyone or anything, when how much he cared was written all over his face. Teyla sat behind John, the very epitomy of calm; although John could see that she was worried about the kids, too. The kids of M7G-677 had affected all of them in their previous visit. None of them wanted anything bad to happen to them after all that the kids had been through. Speaking of kids, Ford was sitting in his seat behind McKay impatiently tapping his foot.

"Flight, Jumper 1 is ready for departure," John said into his comm, falling back on the familiar routine to calm the nervousness that was thrumming through him.

"Flight, you have a go," Elizabeth's voice responded in his ear.

The jumper's departure through the gate was handled automatically and it was only a matter of seconds before they were flying through the gate on M7G-677.

The destruction that the Wraith had meted out was apparent the second they came through the wormhole. Smoke hung low and heavy in the air above the trees where the village was located. Sheppard cloaked the jumper as he set it down, just in case.

"Why are we landing so far away?" McKay asked grumpily, ready to launch into standard rant #45 regarding all the reasons why they had a jumper; they shouldn't have to park so far away.

Sheppard cut him off before he could get started, "So we can leave once you get their shield working again," he pointed out. "I wouldn't want you to have to walk all the way back to the gate."

Rodney's mouth shut with an audible click on whatever scathing retort he'd been about to make. But he was quick to interpose, "If I can get their shield working again. We have no idea what's wrong with it. I thought that it would last for years more, but this technology is so new, I could have missed something."

"Missed something?" Ford taunted with an eyebrow lifted in shock. "Not the great Dr. McKay? Tell me it isn't so."

"Oh, hardee har har. Don't quit your day job," McKay snapped at him as he checked through his equipment.

Sheppard suppressed a smile. "Alright, kids, make sure you have everything you might need, we don't know what we're going to be facing here." He shouldered his own pack and led the way down the ramp. Once the hatch shut, the jumper disappeared as if it had never been there.

--SGA--

It was a silent trek to the old city. Even McKay was uncharacteristically quiet which was just plain weird. Sometimes the major didn't shut the doctor down when Ford thought he should and it put the team in danger. But this time they made their way through the trees and there was no talking, no joking, no poking fun as there usually was. And Ford kind of missed it. As long as McKay was talking he knew everything was alright.

They arrived at the old city without encountering anyone – kids or Wraith, which Ford counted as a win. After a moments tinkering, McKay blinked at them in surprise.

"I have good news and I have bad news." His mouth pulled down into a frown.

"Well, I think we all could use a little good news today, McKay, spill." The major was alert, his eyes constantly scanning the trees around them and the sky overhead.

"Yes, Dr. McKay, I am sure that good news would be most welcome," Teyla agreed. Whatever was worrying the major also had Teyla on the alert. Ford was on alert just on principle. They'd been attacked by the kids more than once. The place had been attacked by the Wraith. Ford wasn't about to be taken by surprise again.

"The good news is that the shield device doesn't seem to be malfunctioning in any way," McKay informed them, rocking back on his heels in his 'I know something you don't' way.

"And yet, it's not working," the major pointed out, fixing McKay with a steely gaze.

"That would be the bad news," McKay replied unhappily. "The ZedPM is gone."

"What?" Sheppard stared at him for a long second and McKay glared back.

"Is it broken?" Ford shot a glance at the shield device trying to see something obvious that the scientist might have missed. i_s if_, he snorted to himself mentally.

"Weren't you listening to me?" McKay spat out. "The device is working perfectly; it's just that the ZedPM is not here. It's gone, taken, physically absent. Should I use sock puppets?"

"Alright, alright," Sheppard rubbed a hand through his hair. "Okay, so someone took it?"

"Obviously," McKay answered sourly.

"Why would someone do something like that?" Teyla asked with a perplexed frown. "Do they not understand that it protects this planet from the Wraith?" Ford had a lot of respect for Teyla, but sometimes she just didn't understand that people would hurt each other just because.

Sheppard ignored Teyla's question as mostly rhetorical and addressed McKay, "Can you find it again? These kids are just target practice for the Wraith without that shield device."

"Again with the obvious," McKay frowned at the major. "Yes, I can probably find the ZedPM if it's still on the planet. It gives off a distinct energy signature and there's nothing around here that's going to be able to mask it. It's just a matter of whether we can find it and replace it before the Wraith make a return appearance."

"Unfortunately you'll never know." The kid called Ares stepped out of the cover afforded by the trees along with his soldiers, they were all armed with bows and arrows and the primitive weapons they'd used before, still they were deadly enough. An arrow through the heart was just as deadly as a bullet. "Please put down your weapons, or we will be forced to kill you sooner rather than later."

"Kill? Come on now, that's so harsh. I thought we were friends." Sheppard did his best to look nonthreatening and used his charming-the-natives voice while never once dropping his guard. Ford watched the emotions flicker across the major's face as he took in the children and their weapons: his surprise at the ambush, anger that they'd been ambushed (again), fear for his team and the kids themselves.

Ford calculated the odds that the team could break free without any of them being hurt or injuring any of the kids. The odds were bad; McKay could probably quote them down to the nth decimal place.

"We have never been friends, Major," Ares sneered, "I think you and these full growns are a danger to my people. It was your coming here that alerted the Wraith to our presence in the first place and it is you that have brought them to feed upon us. It is our sacrifice that has kept us safe through the years and not your device. Now," Ares signaled to his people and the weapons were trained on McKay, "I suggest you put down your weapons. Don't make me say it again."

Sheppard bit his lip struggling to keep from saying something he'd regret. He nodded, "Yeah, yeah, we'll do that." He unclipped his P90 from his vest and Ares nearly ripped it from him, running eager hands over it. Ford felt a chill go up his back watching the young man with the very lethal weapon.

"You don't understand," McKay burst out as he laid his 9mm carefully on the ground at his feet. He couldn't stand that someone didn't believe in his science. "It's this device that kept you safe from the Wraith…"

"McKay," Sheppard tried to caution him. But McKay wasn't having any of it.

"No, it is ridiculous. There's no reason for any of these children to die anymore."

"Enough!" Ares shouted as he smashed the butt of Sheppard's P90 into McKay's face. The scientist sank to his knees with his hands to his face rocking in pain. It didn't stop the blood from dripping through his fingers to the dusty ground beneath.

Sheppard held up his hands and did his best to look peaceful and non-threatening. Mostly he just looked pissed. "Listen we're here to help. We had intel that you'd been attacked by the Wraith and we came to help."

"You?" Ares sneered at him. "How can you help? You brought the Wraith upon us."

"Where's Keras?" Sheppard asked still working on keeping his voice as soothing as possible. "Just let us talk to Keras and we'll straighten this all out."

A cruel smile curved Ares' lips, "Keras is gone. He made the sacrifice as he should have done in the first place, and now I am eldest. It is I who will be saying what keeps us safe. Take them." He held Sheppard's P90 cradled in his arms as the team was surrounded by the kids and herded in the direction of the village.

"Do you really think Keras is dead?" Teyla asked quietly with a cautious sideways glance to their guards who ignored them. As long as they walked the kids didn't seem to mind them talking.

Sheppard shrugged, "I don't know. I hope not."

"Cleo said he was missing," McKay pointed out. His nose had stopped bleeding, but his eye was already nearly swollen shut and he winced at every step. Sheppard moved in close on one side and Teyla flanked him on the other. Ford brought up the rear keeping a wary eye on the kids as he did so.

"Ares was pretty pissed when Keras helped us out the last time," Ford said. "You don't think he killed him do you?"

Before Sheppard could answer they all heard the whine of the Wraith dart in the sky. The kids scattered leaving the Lanteans to fend for themselves without a weapon among them.

"Go," Sheppard ordered grabbing McKay's arm and pulling him along towards the trees. Ford threw himself at Teyla and they ran in the opposite direction to at least try and pull the Wraith away from their injured team member.

It didn't do any good. The Wraith flew right over them heading straight for Sheppard and McKay. Ford turned and shouted, "Major!"

He was just in time to see Sheppard give McKay a shove. The scientist was pushed out of the way of the Wraith beam but Sheppard disappeared in the rippling beam of light. The Wraith continued on its path and several of the kids disappeared, then it circled and headed back for the gate.

Ford and Teyla ran to McKay's side, helping him up. He had pushed himself to his knees when they arrived.

"That idiot!" he spat out letting Teyla pull him the rest of the way to his feet. "What in the hell did he think he was doing?"

"Saving your life," Teyla said as gently as she could.

Then Ares had returned with what was left of his force. There was still enough of them that the team didn't have a chance at escape, especially since the kids were turning their own weapons on them. The kids surrounded them, their faces reflecting their fear and forced the team to move.

"Bind them," Ares ordered.

"No, wait," Rodney protested, but it did not good. In short order their hands were tied and a bag was pulled over their head. Ford had a feeling they were going to be Wraith bait if the dart ruined.

They finished the walk to the ruined village in silence.

--SGA--

John could hear the whine of the dart and something in him knew the thing was headed straight for him and McKay. The bulk of the kids were in front of the two of them and he bet they looked like a tasty smorgasbord just spread out for the Wraith. He risked a look over his shoulder, and sure enough, the dart was nearly upon them. He shoved McKay out of the way just as he felt the beam take him.

It seemed like only an instant later, when he woke up face down on the floor of a Wraith cell. It was depressing that he recognized it from the peculiar, too dry smell of the air. His head ached in the aftermath of being scooped up and stunned by the Wraith scooper beam, but otherwise he seemed to be alright. There were shuffles and sniffles all around him. He lifted his head to find himself surrounded by kids, none over the age of 15, all looking down on him. The one sitting next to his head, brightened immediately when he woke up and shouted for the rest.

"He's awake!"

John's headache spiked, but he pushed himself off the floor anyway. The kids scurried back to give him room, their grubby little fingers reaching out to offer assistance or maybe just to find reassurance. He swallowed hard at his own anger and sorrow knowing what was in store for them.

"Casta, right?" he asked the child that had spoke.

The boy nodded earnestly. "Is Cleo alright?" he asked, never even seeming to doubt that Sheppard would know the answer.

"Yeah," he answered. "She's fine." He didn't tell the boy that his friend was safe on Atlantis. They didn't know what kind of surveillance equipment might be in the Wraith cells, but it was a sure bet that someone was watching them.

He took a long look around, recognizing some of the kids from their previous visit to M7G-677. He also saw some of the kids who had been part of Ares group that had taken his team captive. He didn't know if he should be cheered by the fact that he was the only one of his team in the cell or not. They might have gotten away or they could already be a snack for the Wraith.

"Were any of the rest of the full growns taken?" he asked one of the kids he recognized. She shook her head watching him with wide eyes like she freaking expected him to save them all. The knowledge that they all expected him to save them weighed heavily on him.

"How long have you guys been here?" Sheppard asked Casta.

He dragged himself to a sitting position, leaning back against the wall. Once he was settled the kids all moved back in, crowding in from all sides, wanting to touch him. He couldn't really blame them for the need for reassurance. The Wraith cell freaked him out, too, and he was an adult, so he didn't say anything. He just stretched his legs out in front of him, trying to give them as many points of contact as possible.

Casta took advantage of the fact that John had spoken to him; he pressed himself up against John, his warm little body tucked in under John's arm.

"Most of us have been here for awhile," Casta answered once he was comfortably settled. "The Wraiths, they come and take some of us away. We tried to all run once, but they stunned us and put us back in here."

John admired the bravery of the children. They were so obviously terrified and yet they were still trying to resist. He was determined to save them all if he could. But how? Now that was the question of the day.

How had he gotten here? Just hours before he'd been sitting on Atlantis safe, his only worry being paperwork. Abruptly he remembered sitting in that office wishing for something to happen so he could get out of his paperwork.

i_Be careful what you wish for_/i, his father had told John once. Yeah, great advice. Because, even if he could somehow be back to Atlantis with paperwork as his worst problem, he wouldn't do it if it meant leaving the children alone to their fate on the Wraith ship. He knew himself better than that. He was going to do whatever he had to in order save them.

He wondered what Sumner would have done. Would Sumner have left Atlantis at the call of a little girl? He'd like to think the man would, but he wasn't sure, and suddenly John was glad it was him sitting in that cell and not Marshall Sumner. Because he was going to do whatever it took to get the kids off that Wraith ship. For whatever reason, he was the military leader of Atlantis and the Wraith were going to rue the day they took the kids from M7G-677.

There was the distinctive sound of feet in the corridor beyond their cell, and John pushed himself up, not wanting to be caught on the floor. It wasn't much of an advantage, but it was the best he had at the moment. The children followed his example. The clustered around and behind him to face their captors as one of the faceless Wraith warriors entered the cell.

John stepped forward, "I think you're looking for me," he said. He was determined not to give up any of the kids without a fight. He thought it might kill him if he had to watch those faceless monsters drag away any of the children while he was still upright and able to fight them.

To his surprise the Wraith didn't argue with him or beat him down. The warrior just nodded his head and gave him a shove toward the door of the cell.

Without warning Casta darted forward and kicked the Wraith in the ankle. The Wraith gave an almost negligent swing of its arm hitting the child squarely across the face, sweeping him up and into the air. He fell back into the rest of the waiting children.

John threw himself at the Wraith at that, but there were more outside the cell waiting for him. They caught him up by both arms and dragged him away before he could kill the one that had hurt Casta.

His last sight of the children was of Casta on the floor with the rest of the children gathering around him.

--SGA--

Rodney didn't think he would ever forget the nightmare of being hoisted up into the tree house in a harness. Their hands had been tied for the trek to the village and Ares refused to release them, not even for the length of time it would take them to climb up to their prison. So the kids had fashioned a harness and hoisted each of the team mates up into the tree.

Spiraling up with absolutely no control, his feet kicking helplessly in the air, knowing that his safety was in the hands of a bunch of snot-nosed kids, was the most terrifying thing Rodney had ever experienced. And that was saying a lot. Since coming to the Pegasus Galaxy, Rodney had experienced a myriad of terrifying things that included the city being submerged under 2,000 feet of ocean and the shield that protected it about to fail, flying darkness that ate power and the Wraith. So he knew terrifying.

Once they'd been airlifted into their prison in the trees, they were left alone for what felt like hours. Rodney tried not to dwell on what was going to happen to them (sacrifice, Ares had said) or what had happened to Sheppard (he'd seen the corpses of people who were drained by the Wraith and it made him shudder to think of Sheppard like that), but it was no use. His brain was always busy and Rodney had never found a way to turn it off. And he was good at multi-tasking. He could worry about the situation he, Teyla and Ford were in and still leave plenty of brain space to worry about Sheppard, too.

"How do you suppose they're going to sacrifice us?" he asked, his mind supplying all sorts of horrifying scenarios, but he knew there were always other even more horrifying ways that he'd never even considered. Pegasus had taught him that.

"Dr. McKay, we are not going to die," Teyla insisted gently. And really it was very nice of her to make the effort but Rodney knew she was lying.

"No, really," he snapped, "And how do you know that? Maybe Sheppard will manage to escape certain death with the Wraith and he'll swoop in at the last minute and save us all?"

"It could happen," Ford insisted wriggling so he could better see his team mates.

They were all sitting propped up against a wall of the tree house. Their hands were tied behind their backs now and secured to a beam of the structure they sat in. Rodney refused to lean back against the beam. He had a vision of the wall behind him giving way and plunging the 20 or so feet to the ground, dying with his brain splattered all over the ground. But now, after hours of sitting upright with no relief, his back was stiff and tight. His face throbbed in pain and there was an itch between his shoulder blades that he couldn't do anything about.

"Oh, please," Rodney sneered, not even bothering to temper the snideness of his tone. "You know that eternal optimist act might play with Sheppard but you can drop it here. I can figure the odds, and right now you really don't want me to do that."

"Dr. McKay…" Teyla began, but then they heard rustling from outside their prison and they fell silent as they waited to find out what was going to happen next.

--SGA--

The Wraith carried Sheppard along, letting his knees drag the floor, never bothering to turn him so he could see the children until they rounded a corner. He tried to get his feet under him, but the Wraith ignored his struggles, just dragging him along like a side of beef.

Once they reached their destination, they pulled him to his feet in time to see a Wraith queen sweep into the room. Her hair was long and red, her fashion sense non-existent and her teeth just as pointy and scary as the last one he'd met.

He stood firm, his head held high in defiance, as she circled him. He could swear that she leaned in to sniff him once before she stopped in front of him, crowding him, their bodies nearly pressed together and he had to swallow down the bile that threatened to choke him.

"You are different," she said, her voice hissing in the sibilant tones of her kind.

"Well, gee, the girls always tell me that." He had to fight to keep his tone casual and easy, to not let the fear that threatened to overwhelm him show.

She hissed and put her hand on his chest pressing lightly and, despite his resolve to not show her fear, his breath came faster and his heart thundered so loudly that he wondered if she could hear it.

"You are strong," she whispered into his ear. Her hand on his chest turned into a weird sort of caress. He shuddered with revulsion at the feel of her hand stroking over his heart. "I look forward to feeding on you."

"You really don't want to do that," he said. He tried to move away from her, but his body wasn't his own to control any longer. "I'm sure I'll leave a bad taste in your… mouth."

Her mouth stretched in a terrible parody of a smile as her hand moved up to his face. There was a pressure in his head, akin to a fist squeezing his brain. He struggled on two fronts now, trying to track the movements of her hand on his face as tried to resist the pressure in his head, the demand to let her in. He threw up the mental image of a brick wall.

She smiled wider at his defiance. "Oh, yes," she hissed, "I will enjoy draining you."

"I bet you tell all the boys that," he gasped out.

"But first," she pressed on his shoulders and John's knees buckled. He thudded to the floor, wincing as pain shot up his knees, "You will tell me everything I wish to know."

"McKay would say that wasn't much," he gritted out from between clenched teeth.

The hand squeezing his brain changed to a spike. He resisted with all his will, determined that she wasn't going to learn his secrets. Although he was pretty sure it was useless, Sumner hadn't been able to keep the other Wraith queen out of his head. There was just no way that John Sheppard had more mental faculties to pull on than Marshall Sumner.

Distantly he was aware that she was petting his hair, like a freaking dog, but he didn't have any energy left to fight her physically. He was putting everything he had into the effort to keep her out of his head. It seemed to go on forever and he had no idea how long he spent on his knees fighting the assault on his mind. Then the pressure was gone and his body was his own again. He toppled to the floor, completely exhausted.

She nudged him with her toe and he scrabbled on the floor pushing himself away from her.

"Interesting." Her voice came from far away. "I have never met anyone like you."

"Well," he kept pushing away, "I've always thought I was one of a kind." He was brought up short as he ran into one of the Wraith warriors. He pushed himself up to sit, his arms shaking. The room swung around him and his stomach protested the movement violently. He hoped that if he puked, it was on the queen. It would serve her right.

She knelt and took his chin, her nails pressing into his soft flesh, forcing him to look her in the eye. "You interest me, but your stubbornness will only get you so far."

"Funny, my dad always said that, too." He tried to jerk his face away, but she held him fast.

"You will tell me what I want to know or I will feed on the young ones while you watch," she said, almost pleasantly. She let go of his face and turned to the warrior. "Take him back to his cell and let him spend some time with our dinner. Maybe he will be more cooperative the next time."

John didn't fight the warriors this time as they picked him up under the arms to drag him back to the cell. He was kind of grateful for their strong grip because he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to walk on his own. Somewhere between the queen's chambers and the cell, John lost his fight with consciousness and slid into a comforting darkness where he didn't have to worry about his team or the kids or Marshal Sumner.

--SGA--

Teyla lost all sense of time as they waited for Ares to return. As much as they twisted and struggled against their bonds, the only thing they managed to accomplish was to make them tighter. And the entire time Rodney and Aiden Ford bickered like children and it was wearing on her nerves.

"Oh, please," Rodney sneered in the infuriating way he had, "you know that eternal optimist act might play with Sheppard but you can drop it here. I can figure the odds, and right now you really don't want me to do that."

"Dr. McKay…" Teyla began to try and soothe him, but then there was a rustle and they all fell abruptly silent. Ares was returning.

_"When I return," _Ares had told them as they were tied to the beams_, "you will be sacrificed so that my people will be safe."_

Teyla struggled in her bonds, even knowing it would do her no good. She did not know what was going to happen, but she would not allow herself or her friends to be taken easily. She sensed that Ford was also twisting in his bonds trying to loosen them or find just one weakness that he could use. Rodney was now motionless, staring at the hole in the floor that was the entrance into their hut. Long minutes went by and no one appeared.

"Do not move," Teyla heard a voice whisper from the other side of the wall, outside their prison. Then her wrists were free as a knife sliced through the bindings. She twisted around and could just see the silhouette of a person through the slats that formed the house they were imprisoned in.

"Keras?" she whispered.

"Can you move away?" he whispered back. A slim knife was passed into her hands through the slats. She took it, scurrying over to cut the ropes that bound Ford.

"Hey," Rodney complained, careful to keep his voice as low as possible. "What about me?"

"I will be there in a moment," Teyla whispered to him. "Just be patient."

Before he could whisper a no doubt biting response, the wall where Teyla had been sitting swung in, and Keras ducked inside. He grinned at them.

"Hey, Ares said you were dead," Rodney burst out.

Keras held a hand to his mouth cautioning silence to which Teyla nodded her agreement. It was not a time for words. They needed to escape as quickly as possible. There would be time for talk later when they were safe.

Rodney frowned and pressed his lips together into a tight line but he did not speak again. He just wiggled impatiently glaring in Telay's direction. Suppressing a small smile, she moved to his side and cut his bonds quickly. He gave a low moan when his hands were freed, but otherwise he made not a sound. She put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. He rolled his eyes at her, but then he patted her hand clumsily where it rested on his shoulder.

Keras moved to peer down the hole where the ladder to the ground was located.

"We're not going down that way?" Ford whispered, his voice barely loud enough to carry to Teyla and Rodney.

Keras shook his head and pointed at the section of the wall where he had made his entrance. They gathered there and he swung it inward to show them that it was essentially a door built into the side of the structure. Teyla peered out to see that there was a wide, flat branch right outside that they could step onto. Keras lead the way with the team following closely behind them.

Rodney balked at the door, looking with wide eyes at the drop to the ground far below. Ford gave an impatient 'hurry up' wave and Rodney skewered him with a glare before taking a tentative step out onto the limb. He took a couple of steps before stopping and taking a deep breath. Teyla could see him starting to take another look down and then deciding against it.

Satisfied that they understood his plan, Keras jerked his head and they followed him, one by one, through the trees.

It was a clever plan, Teyla thought. The trees formed a kind of pathway of sorts. They could make their way through the trees long enough that it would make it difficult for Ares to track them. Perhaps it would give them the time they needed to locate the ZPM and get the shield device functioning again so they could then go rescue Sheppard. Because he was alive, he had to be, she would accept nothing else.

They moved swiftly through the trees. Keras had grown up using the tree-top pathways. Teyla had a natural grace that allowed her to traverse the wide branches and limbs without feeling clumsy or awkward. Likewise the lieutenant was athletic enough that he was able to navigate among the trees easily enough. It was Rodney that Teyla was worried about.

The scientist's strength and agility had improved a great deal since he had joined Sheppard's team and started accompanying them on off-world missions. Indeed, the major insisted that the scientist take part in training exercises that helped him to do so (all the while complaining bitterly about the time lost from his very important work).

But Teyla did not think him prepared to deal with this kind of activity. The pathways they walked were high enough that if one of them fell there would be serious injuries. And the scientist had not eaten in some time. She knew about Rodney's medical condition. The major had told them about it when he'd told Ford and Teyla of his decision to ask Rodney to join the team.

Now Teyla was beginning to notice that the scientist was sweating a little more than even the strenuous nature of their activities called for. And he had not spoken in some time. She knew that Rodney knew how to keep quiet when he had to. Still she did not think his silence was due to that entirely. She held up a hand once they had traveled for some time through the tree tops with a worried eye on Rodney. He just sat when Ford did, clinging to the trunk of the tree, swaying a little in place.

"Dr. McKay?" She moved to kneel next to him and shook his shoulder gently. She gave a quick check to assess his condition. His nose was no longer bleeding, but one eye was badly swollen and the one she could see seemed distant and vague, confused.

It took him a moment to focus on her. "Teyla?"

"Are you well, Dr. McKay?" she asked kindly, taking in the sweat on his face and the way his eyes kept wandering away. A small frown was upon his face as if he had forgotten something important.

He let go of the trunk with one hand and waved it, "I'm uh… I'm fine, I guess. Are we stopping? Should we be stopping? Where's Sheppard?"

Ford crouched next to her. "Is he alright?"

"Is not confusion one of the first signs of this hypoglycemia that Dr. McKay suffers from?" Teyla asked him.

Ford nodded. "Yeah, I always kind of thought he was making up." At least the lieutenant had the grace to sound embarrassed about the admission.

"Yes, well now you know that he is not," Teyla said gently. She patted her pockets to find the extra power bars that the major insisted they all carry. She saw now the wisdom of his foresight. If he had been the only one carrying the necessary supplies, it could have been bad for Dr. McKay indeed. Fortunately, Ares and his children-soldiers hadn't searched the team too thoroughly. They'd taken anything they deemed a weapon, but much of the rest of the supplies they had left alone. Teyla pulled out one of the food bars. She opened it and pressed it into Rodney's hands.

"Please, eat, Rodney, you will feel better."

"I'm not really very hungry," he said, but he took a bite of the bar anyway.

"We must move on," Keras hissed at them.

Teyla nodded her understanding. "Can you continue?" she asked Rodney. He took another bite before clambering to his feet. He swayed dangerously and Teyla wrapped a hand around his arm.

She stayed at his side as they continued on their way. He finished the power bar and seemed a little steadier on his feet, but Teyla still stayed close, ready to offer a hand when it was needed. She noticed that Ford stayed close, too, within arms reach if they had need of him.

They came to a place where the tree tops were thinner and the branches slimmer. They had to choose their way carefully or risk falling to the ground. Keras traversed the way with no problem and then Teyla crossed. She could feel the swaying of the tree around her. She turned back to warn Rodney and Ford just as there was a crack and the branch that the two men were standing on gave way beneath them.

Ford threw himself forward and grabbed the trunk of the tree. He clung with all his might. Rodney however plunged downward, disappearing from her sight.

Teyla began her descent fearing the worst. They'd lost John to the Wraith and now she was going to find Rodney broken and bleeding on the ground.

She had only descended a few feet when she found Rodney clinging to a branch, half on and half off and looking as if he was going to slip at any moment.

"Dr. McKay," she exclaimed as she reached down to pull him to safety.

"No, no, stay away," he cautioned. "This branch isn't very sturdy. I'm not sure it'll hold both of us and I'd prefer not to take the express route down."

She was afraid he was correct. It was a slender limb and it was already bowing under Rodney's weight. She tried not to notice that it was still a long way to the ground.

"Stay calm," she advised him.

"Oh, I'd like to see you stay calm when you're dangling 20 feet in the air," he snapped at her. He kept trying to pull himself up and not having any success.

"Please, I know you are frightened, but you are going to draw Ares to us," Keras knelt next to Teyla.

"You know at this moment, sacrifice is looking better and better," Rodney snapped at them even while slipping further off his branch.

"You do not mean that, Dr. McKay," Teyla said.

"No, no, I guess I don't. But I also don't want my bones smashed into a bloody pulp either. Do something, Ford, aren't you supposed to be a boy scout or something?"

"It's a marine, Dr. McKay and I'm thinking." Teyla approved that the lieutenant did not respond in kind to Rodney. It was hard not to sometimes, but they all understood his panic.

"Okay," Ford said at last, "look, there's a branch almost directly under you. If you can drop onto that, it should break your fall."

"Should?" Rodney's voice was about 2 octaves higher than Teyla had ever heard it before. "I would like a little more assurance than that, Lieutenant, before I let go. And we won't even talk about 'break your fall.'" Even without being able to use his hands they all saw the air quotes around the words.

Teyla could see the branch that Ford was referring to and it just might work. "I will climb down and be prepared to help you," Teyla assured Rodney, making her way to the branch just below him. Keras accompanied her. He steadied her while she put a hand on Rodney's ankle where his legs dangled in mid air.

"I am here, Dr. McKay, you can trust me to keep you safe."

"You'd better because the whole city is depending on my brain, you know. While I might survive a fall from this height, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't survive it with my brain intact. And there's just nothing worse I can think of than spending the rest of my life as a vegetable."

Despite the seriousness of their situation, Teyla let a small smile break out when she heard the lieutenant mutter something she couldn't quite make out, but Rodney obviously did.

"Oh, very funny, Ford, don't give up your day job…"

Teyla didn't know if Rodney deliberately let go or if that was the moment that he lost his grip, but she suddenly had her arms full of Rodney McKay as he came crashing down on top of her. They teetered for a breathless moment, but Keras braced them and finally they were all safe again.

Rodney dropped to sit, laying down to embrace the branch with his whole body, "Oh, thank god," he breathed out. "I'm never moving again."

"We must keep going," Keras said urgently. He glanced back the way they had come. "It will not have taken Ares long to find us missing. While it will take the trackers some time to find that we are using the tree paths, they will find us. We must keep going." Keras stood as if to continue on.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," Rodney moaned. "I can not keep climbing through the trees like Tarzan. I need to get down."

"I agree," Teyla said, lending her support to Rodney. "We will be able to travel faster on the ground. I believe that we are far enough from the village that it will take some time for your scouts to pick up our trail."

Ford nodded his agreement of Teyla's assessment. Seeing that the team was united against him, Keras reluctantly led the way down the trees helping them find toeholds and lending a hand when needed.

"Thank god," Rodney groaned as they set foot on the ground once again. Privately Teyla agreed with him.

"We are near the old city," Keras told them once they were all on the ground. "Ares took the device that powers the shield device. Can you fix it?" he asked Rodney anxiously.

Rodney had regained his equilibrium once they were back on solid ground. He eyed Keras disdainfully. "I am good, yes, but even I can't fix the shield without the ZedPM."

"You mean this?" Keras' eyes danced with mischief, he looked much younger than his 25 years. Reaching inside a bag he had slung across his back, he pulled out the ZPM.

"Holy crap," Rodney breathed, taking the device from him reverently. "Where did you get it?"

Keras grinned as if he had told an especially good joke. "I told you, Ares took it. He tried to convince our people that it was the full growns, your people, that brought the Wraith back to our world. Enough believed you when you said it was this device that they would not listen to him at first."

"What happened?" Ford asked from where he was keeping a watch on the trail behind them.

"He tried to get our people to return to the old ways. He said that it was I who was lying when I claimed that it was really the shield device that was protecting our people. When they would not listen to him, he stole this device. Then the Wraith came and a village were culled. He held it out as proof that I was wrong."

"But why would he do such a thing?" Teyla's heart was heavy that anyone who lived in the Pegasus Galaxy would do such a thing. They were supposed to be fighting against the Wraith, not each other.

Keras' nodded, heavy with sorrow, as he answered, "He wanted to be leader. As long as I was still alive, I was eldest. With me gone he would be eldest and leader of our people."

"That is just so wrong," Rodney seemed to come back to life, his hands stroking over the ZPM reverently. "Eventually he's going to have make the sacrifice, too."

"I do not think he has thought that far in advance." Keras nodded to the ZPM. "Can you fix it?" he asked anxiously.

Rodney nodded. "Yes, and we need to do it right now before the Wraith come back." Rodney started down the path in the direction of the shield device.

"Hey, hold on there, Dr. McKay," Ford called after him. "We need to go rescue the major first."

Rodney gave an impatient huff and turned back to them. "Don't you think I know that? But you know Sheppard; he would want us to make sure that these kids are safe first."

Ford opened his mouth to bark a retort. Teyla knew his worry. They were all worried about Sheppard. He had been in the hands of the Wraith for too many hours and in all likelihood he was dead by now. But even if he were not, Teyla had known Sheppard long enough to know that he would not want them to put his safety ahead of that of the children. But Aiden was young. Teyla had seen the worship in his eyes when he looked at Sheppard, like a son looking at his father and wanting his approval above all. Ford needed to rescue Sheppard.

"He is correct, Aiden." Teyla said gently. "The major would not want us to put his safety before that of the children."

"But Teyla…"

"Aiden, you know what he would want us to do. We are not abandoning the major; we will go after we have repaired the shield device. Dr. McKay can do that quite quickly I think…"

"Oh, sure put the pressure all on me," Rodney muttered.

"And then we will find a way to rescue the major."

Aiden shifted restlessly, weighing her words. Finally he nodded. "Alright, let's get this thing fixed." He took off on the path, not looking back to see if they followed.

Rodney rolled his eyes, but he didn't say anything as he followed. Keras fell into step beside Teyla as they brought up the rear.

"I thought Sheppard had somehow escaped from Ares," he said sadly. "I did not think of the possibility that he might have been taken by the Wraith. I am sorry." Keras said it as one would to someone who mourned. Teyla was not yet ready to mourn for Sheppard yet.

"We will fix your shield and then we will rescue him," she said firmly.

Keras looked for a moment as if he would argue, but then he nodded, "And I will go with you," he vowed.

--SGA--

John woke to his head pounding like he'd been on a three day bender. But he was pretty sure there had been no alcohol involved in his headache. When he opened his eyes he found he was correct. Casta was a heavy weight against his side. He was relieved to see that the kid looked none the worse for his encounter with the Wraith. The rest of the kids were giving them room, but they were all watching anxiously. John gave a little wave of his hand to reassure them that he was okay, and pushed himself upright. The room spun a little, and his lunch threatened to make a reappearance, but in the end he was sitting upright with his back against the wall.

"Are you alright?" Casta asked, his eyes round and anxious.

John tried a smiled but it didn't seem to ease Casta's worry any. "I'm fine," he insisted.

Casta cocked his head and regarded John with a narrow-eyed gaze that said as plain as words that he wasn't buying it. Yeah, John wasn't really buying it either. His head pounded in time with his heart beat and it was making it difficult to think.

He leaned his head back against the wall and rested it for a moment doing his best to ignore the fact that the room just kept rotating lazily around him. He looked down at Casta, "How long was I out?"

"Long time," the boy answered solemnly. "We were afraid you were dead 'cept the Wraiths wouldn't have brought you back."

"Yeah, you're probably right about that." There was silence between them as Casta leaned his head back, too. He was doing his very best to be calm, but he was just a little kid. John wanted to scream and hit something, preferably the Wraith, and get the kids out. But he was stuck, just like them and he had to maintain his calm so the kids wouldn't panic. Sometimes he hated being full grown.

The sound of footsteps heralded the arrival of the guards. John used the wall to lever himself up. He staggered a couple of steps putting himself between the guards and the kids.

"So, we going for round two?" He did his best to sound unconcerned, but he didn't think he succeeded as he found himself seized and pulled from the cell. He knew it was going to be bad this time when two of the kids were pulled along behind.

"Just leave them alone," John snarled.

He knew it was useless, he really did, but he had to try something. He couldn't just let them take the kids. He threw himself against the guard at his side and made a grab for his stunner.

--SGA--

They made it the rest of the way to the old city without incident and Rodney counted that as their first piece of good luck all day. They were due a break.

When they arrived, he headed straight for the shield, letting Ford and Teyla do their soldier thing and secure the perimeter. Rodney's major concern was getting the ZPM back in place and the shield working before the Wraith came back. They had spent hours tied up in the hut in the trees and he was expecting the Wraith to return at any moment. It was just the way things worked for him.

So he wasn't surprised at all when child soldiers stepped out of the trees and bushes and surrounded them, their weapons at the ready. Some of them were holding the weapons they'd taken from the Lanteans. Rodney broke out in a cold sweat seeing his own 9mm in Ares' hands. Teyla, Ford and even Keras surrounded him and the precious ZPM and he appreciated the effort, he really did. He couldn't help thinking that it wasn't going to be enough though.

"This is just getting old," he snapped, his mouth turned down in a frown. "Hasn't anyone taught you children to respect your elders?" It was the wrong thing to say, but he'd had enough.

Ares stepped out to confront them, smirking.

"When the elders are worthy of respect, we will respect their memory," he spat at them. He turned to those who followed him. "You see, it is as I told you. Keras is here with the full growns. He is trying to bring the Wraith down upon us once more."

Keras moved into Ares space to confront him and the weapons followed him, although Rodney thought he saw doubt in some of the kids' eyes.

"Ares is lying to you because he wants to lead. It is this device," Keras gestured back to Rodney and the shield device. Rodney held up the ZPM so everyone would have a clear view of it. He felt vaguely like Vana White.

"Just let me put it back in, you'll see." He took a step toward the shield, but Ares grabbed his arm and pulled him away. Rodney clutched the ZPM tightly afraid of it getting damaged in some way. If that happened they were all toast.

Some of the kids were looking definitely doubtful, looking from Ares to Keras and back again. Seeing Keras alive and well had obviously shaken Ares' follower's faith.

"No," Ares shouted. "The only thing that will keep the Wraith from returning is if we get rid of the full growns now. And that includes Keras." Ares turned and advanced on Keras, the weapon in his hand up and pointed straight at Keras' head.

Keras stood his ground with his head held high. The soldiers wavered further in the face of his determination; their weapons were dropping the slightest bit.

"It wouldn't hurt to let him put the device back. This is the way it has always been, what harm can there be?" One of the kids asked. Quite sensibly, Rodney thought.

"No," Ares sneered, hard and angry, desperate now that he could see their support of him waning. "This will only make us soft. We must depend on the old ways if we want to be safe."

"Shut up, Ares," Keras thundered.

Before anyone could stop him, Keras drew back his arm and punched Ares solidly. Ares fell back on his ass stunned, letting go of Rodney. Keras gave Rodney a push toward the shield. "Go," he urged before turning back to Ares.

Rodney didn't need to be told twice. He hurried toward the shield.

The shot came out of nowhere. Rodney jerked forward like he'd been pushed. Fire licked down his shoulder. When he looked to see what had happened, blood seeped down his arm to drip to the ground below; fat, red drops that quickly formed a pool.

"You will stop," Ares commanded. He had Rodney's 9 mil. It was trained on Rodney's heart.

Everything stopped. There was dead silence as everyone waited to see what Ares would do. That's when they heard the whine of the dart.

Rodney looked up to see the dart circling the enclosure of the old city. They were sitting ducks there. It probably looked like an ala carte menu to the Wraith.

In that moment of distraction, Ford decked the kid next to him and wrenched away the P-90 that the kid was holding. Teyla did the same to the kid next to her. The rest of the child soldiers took off for the safety of the trees, hoping that they might afford some protection from the Wraith culling beam.

Keras caught Rodney's arm. "Can you still fix the shield?" he asked, his urgency making him hold on too tight - his fingers bit into the flesh of Rodney's good arm.

Fire radiated from the wound in his arm and the slightest movement caused excruciating pain. But Rodney nodded, gritting his teeth in determination. He could do whatever he had to in order to save them all.

Keras gave him a gentle shove in the direction of the shield. "Work quickly," he said.

Rodney clutched the ZPM with his arm good arm and tucked the injured one close to his body as he headed for the shield. No one tried to stop him this time. Teyla and Ford flanked him on either side, targeting the dart and firing as it began its run on the kids.

Rodney ignored the fiery pain of his arm as he inspected the shield. He was very afraid of what he would find now that he finally had a chance to look at the device. It was old and it would be so easy to damage it if you took the ZPM out incorrectly. He remembered all too well the feeling of panic he'd experienced when he thought he'd broken the device before.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that they'd been lucky again and Ares hadn't damaged the shield. Rodney was familiar with its workings from their previous adventure on the planet so it should be fairly easy to get the ZPM back in place and get the shield working again. If his damn hands would just stop shaking.

"Do you need help?" A child's voice startled him. Rodney glared at the child kneeling next to him. His face was painted and there were _twigs_ in his hair.

Rodney stared at him a moment expecting the child to shoot him or take him a prisoner, but the offer seemed to be genuine. His face was creased with concern. Rodney waved him over.

"I could actually use another hand," he gestured to the arm tucked close to his body. "I seem to be short one at the moment." He handed over the ZPM. The kid seemed to understand its importance because he handled it gently. Rodney nodded in approval. "You look familiar. Do I know you?"

The kid nodded as he followed Rodney's instructions on the proper placement of the ZPM. "My name is Neleus. We met the first time you were here. I was the one who saw the Wraith bird fall from the sky. I tried to tell Ares, but he would not listen to me."

"Well, at least you tried," Rodney said stiffly. He just didn't know how to deal with kids. Especially not ones who wanted to kill him. "I think that's it." He waved the kid away with a scowl. He swayed a little when he accidently jostled his arm and the world went white around him.

Neleus grabbed him and held him up.

"Thanks," he blinked at the kid. "For uhm… helping me here."

"You are welcome. Is it going to work?" Neleus asked anxiously looking up at the sky.

The Wraith were still buzzing overhead. Rodney could hear the sound of the culling beam, screams from the children. He gulped down his fear and pain. He had to get the shield working.

He nodded. "I think so." He squinted down at the control panel. It was beginning to waver in front of his eyes, growing dim and far away. He held onto consciousness by sheer will power. He couldn't afford to go down. He'd wake up as a 'to-go' meal for the Wraith.

And Neleus was looking at him with that damn hero-worshipping face that said he just knew Rodney could do it. He couldn't let the kid down. He couldn't let his team down. Everything was depending on him.

"Yeah, sure, no pressure," he mumbled to himself as pushed buttons.

"I'm sorry?" Neleus asked. His tone said quite clearly that he didn't know what to do with crazy full growns.

Rodney didn't bother answering him. He was concentrating as hard as he could on getting the shield working again. The sound of the Wraith dart was getting closer. Rodney made the mistake of looking up and he could see it flying overhead through the canopy of leaves that hid the shield from sight.

"You can do it," Neleus told him. "I saw you do it before."

"Of course I can," Rodney snapped back. "As if I need one of Peter Pan's rejected lost boys to give me a pep talk," he scowled at the kid but then he told him, "cross your fingers," before he hit the final button. The kid frowned in confusion but attempted to do as Rodney asked. Rodney punched the final button.

There was a second when nothing happened. Rodney could still hear the whine of the dart overhead and the culling beam taking kids and he was certain that he'd failed. Ares really had damaged the machinery in some way beyond Rodney's ability to fix it. He crumpled to the ground, his strength gone at last. The kid tried to catch him, but it was no good. Rodney was a full grown after all and Neleus was just a skinny kid, not even a good snack for the Wraith.

He blinked up at the sky and the Wraith dart was drifting closer, it was lower in the sky. It was almost as if it was trying to fly into the thicket of trees surrounding the shield. Neleus was pulling on his arm trying to drag him deeper into the thicket. Rodney resisted. He had to figure out what was wrong with the shield and fix it. There was still time, he could do it. And he'd do it just as soon as he could move.

When the dart fell out of the sky, it was almost on top of them. Rodney stared in astonishment at the smoking ruins of the dart, too tired and hurting too much to move any further away as the thing blew up in a ball of fire.

Neleus jumped up and down cheering, pounding on Rodney's back, "You did it! You did it!" he shouted.

Rodney nodded in dazed agreement before falling over sideways and letting the darkness drag him down to where there was no more pain.

--SGA--

The second John's hand closed round the Wraith stunner the kids in the cell exploded into action. Maybe they were just waiting for him to make his move, because they swarmed out of the cell, jumping on the Wraith guards. There were only three guards this time, and John was able to stun one of them. He pulled the guard's stunner and then turned it on him all in one smooth motion.

He scrambled up to find one of the Wraith clawing at his back trying to get to the kids that clung there. He got a hold of one of them and smashed the kid up against the wall. The kid slid down the wall leaving a smear of blood behind. John didn't wait for him to hurt any of the others, he stunned them all – wraith and kids, they could separate the good guys from the bad guys later. He thought the kids could deal with the pins and needles feeling from being stunned better than being sucked dry of their life.

He turned to the final Wraith only to find that the warrior had Casta under one arm and his feeding hand hovering in the air above the boys' chest. The thing i_smiled_/i its grotesque version of a smile and slowly lowered its hand savoring every moment of John's defeat. John flipped the stunner and offered it grip first to the warrior.

A stun blast came from behind John and the wraith and Casta dropped like a stone. John whirled to find Teyla, Ford and Keras running down the corridor toward them.

"Am I glad to see you guys," he shouted as he scooped up Casta's limp form from the floor. The kids that were still mobile were picking up their comrades that had been felled by John's stunner blast. John was glad to see that the kid that had been thrown against the wall was upright. Her face was white and there was blood on her collar, but she was standing on her own power. She looked up to see John watching and she nodded that she could move if she had, too. John nodded back.

John raced down the hall to meet Ford. He traded Casta for the lieutenant's P-90. He turned and emptied a clip into the three Wraith on the floor.

"Are you ready to get out of here, sir?" Ford asked, grimacing at the bodies on the floor.

"You have no idea," John answered.

Teyla turned, presumably leading them back to the jumper. John didn't ask where they were going; he just jogged to keep up. Away from the cells was his main objective.

"Where's McKay?" John asked as they ran.

"He's waiting in the jumper, sir," Ford said.

There wasn't time for more as they rounded a corner and found themselves cut off from the jumper by more of the Wraith warriors. John and Teyla took them out in a hail of bullets. Ford passed off Casta to one of the other kids and crouched down next to John where he and Teyla were laying down cover fire so Keras could get the kids to the safety of the jumper. It was a good thing they had a guide. The jumper was cloaked and John couldn't see it even crouched down a few feet from it.

"I've arranged a diversion." Ford waggled the remote detonator with a grin.

"Lieutenant, I like the way you think," John nodded in approval. "All right let's get out of here."

The three of them followed the last of the kids into the jumper. John waded through them to the cockpit. He found Rodney there, sitting in the co-pilots seat, watching the rear hatch. John blew out a silent breath of relief seeing him there. He'd been afraid that McKay was waiting in the jumper because he was dead. He raised a brow at finding Markham in the pilot's seat.

"You just can't miss a good party can you, Sergeant?"

Markham grinned at him, "Well, Ford called and said you were needing rescued, again. I had to see for myself."

"Well, thanks for the assist. Let's not make a habit of it." He waved the young man out of the seat and slid into place. As he started his pre-flight check he glanced over at Rodney. The man looked like he'd walked through hell. He had one eye swollen shut and the other was red and puffy. His nose looked like someone had used it for a punching bag. His left arm was tucked up close to his body and the pressure bandage he was sporting was soaked through and dripping blood onto the cockpit floor.

"McKay, not that I'm not glad to see you, but why are you here?"

Even as banged up as he was, Rodney managed to look offended. "I came because I thought you might need my expertise to, you know, escape with your life. But next time, I'll just go back to Atlantis where Carson has the good drugs."

"No, no," John said as he finished up his check, letting himself settle a little. His pulse was still thrumming from the escape. "I'm really glad you came. We can always use your expertise. Although, you are cleaning the blood out of the jumper."

"Is that the thanks I get for risking my life to come rescue your sorry ass? I'd have just left you here except then I would have never heard the end of it from Ford and Zena back there."

John suppressed the smile that threatened to erupt. The vitriol was just McKay's way of saying he cared. And pretty much John preferred it to anything sappier. He glanced back to make sure Markham was safely seated before he called over his shoulder, "Make sure you're sitting or holding onto something back there, this might get bumpy."

He settled into the pilot's seat and felt the familiar connection with the jumper. Yeah, Pegasus had its share of horror – Wraith, life-sucking bugs, paperwork. But it had its upside, too. John had never thought to have a family again. And as much as he might try to deny it, Rodney, Teyla, Ford and the rest of Atlantis had become his family. He had the chance to save kids. And he got to fly the jumpers.

He lifted the jumper smoothly and navigated out of the Wraith cruiser. That's about where the easy part of the ride ended. There were a couple of darts waiting for them as they left the cruiser. The jumper was cloaked, so they didn't know exactly where the jumper was, but they knew it was there and they set up a cross fire that John was having a hard time avoiding. He zigged and zagged expertly, but it wasn't enough. The jumper rocked and shuddered from shots that were too close for comfort.

"Ford," he yelled to the back of the jumper, "if you have something set up, now would be a good time to give it up."

"Yes, sir!" the lieutenant called back enthusiastically. Ford really liked his job, especially when he got to blow up Wraith.

While they weren't in a position to see the explosions on the cruiser, they felt the shock waves that rocked the jumper. By chance it caught the darts tumbling them into one another and they, too, exploded in a burst of white light. Then the jumper was alone in space. It almost seemed anticlimactic.

"Is everyone okay back there?" John called.

He never heard the answer because that was when McKay's eyes rolled back and he slid out of his seat to land in a heap on the floor.

--SGA--

John sat cross-legged on the bed next to McKay's. He had his lap top in his lap and he was doing his best to work on his mission report. But it was slow going because every time Rodney's breathing faltered or he so much as twitched John would jump to see if he was waking up.

It had been a couple of days and Rodney hadn't woken up yet. John was starting to get worried. The doc said Rodney had lost a lot of blood along with his blood sugar being all out of whack. Carson patiently (and not-so patiently about the fifth time) explained that Rodney would wake up when he was ready, but John needed to see for himself. So, he'd sat at Rodney's bedside until the doc drove him out to eat and get some rest himself.

He'd even tried going to his own office for a while, but the place still creeped him out. It wasn't even the fact that he had an office anymore. He'd come to accept that things had happened and now he was in charge. He was determined to do the best he could for the people of the expedition. They'd saved the kids on M7G-677 and that was a start.

No, he just didn't like the office, it was small and after a half hour of sitting there, it felt like the walls were closing in on him. So, in the end, he'd snuck back into the infirmary. Beckett had seen him, but, as long as John stuck to the bed next to Rodney's and was quiet, the doctor left him alone.

A snort startled him. He glanced over at McKay's bed to find Rodney's good eye open and staring at him. He set the lap top aside and slid out of the bed.

"Hey, McKay," he said, "It's about time you woke up. I thought I was going to get to drink the last of the coffee."

Even looking half-dead, Rodney's glare packed quite a wollop. The fear in John's gut eased a little seeing it.

"I saved your ass," Rodney whispered, licking his lips. "I deserve coffee."

John grinned down at him. "You do at that," he agreed amicably.

Rodney licked his lips again and John snagged the cup that was sitting on the table next to the bed. He filled it from the pitcher and plunked in a straw. He held it so Rodney could take a sip.

"Just water today, though," he said when Rodney grimaced at the liquid in the cup. "Doctor's orders," he was quick to add. "Just small sips for right now. The doc says you can't have too much yet."

"Thanks," Rodney said once John pulled the cup away. He looked around the infirmary, his forehead wrinkling, trying to piece together what had happened. "We got away?"

John bounced a little on his toes. "We did, thanks to you."

"Wha' happened?"

"Well after you passed out," Rodney's lips twitched at the joke, "I got you back here double time. The doc got you patched up, but you've been taking it easy down here for a couple of days now. I was beginning to think you'd gotten soft."

Rodney made an undignified noise that could have been a snort, but it also could have been a pained grunt as he shifted in the bed. John almost went to get Beckett except Rodney waved his hand in a 'well-get-on-with-it' manner.

John lifted an amused eyebrow and continued with his report, "We got the kids from the hive ship home. The shield is working fine and Ford took out the Wraith cruiser, so hopefully they won't have to worry about the Wraith again anytime soon."

"How many?" Rodney whispered.

"Most of the kids taken in the initial culling were okay. But there were a few kids taken in that last raid while you were working on the shield," John shrugged, trying to keep it light. He knew Rodney would have to know the truth at some point, but the guy was still half dead. It wasn't the time to go into the specifics of what had happened on M7G-677. As much as Rodney put on a 'I don't care what happens to anyone' face, he did care, deeply. John had seen how much Rodney McKay cared when he walked into a sea of blackness to save everyone.

But Rodney was always a law unto himself. "How many?" he repeated. Even laid up in a hospital bed, his face as white as the sheets he laid on, McKay's personality was a formidable force. The stubborn tilt of his chin and the determined gleam in his eye said that he didn't want to be coddled, he wanted answers.

"There were a half dozen kids that were fed on on the hive ship before you guys got us out," John said reluctantly

"And?" There was no way around it, Rodney wanted everything. John wasn't really surprised. McKay didn't sugar coat things and he expected people to tell him what he wanted straight up.

John sighed, and just told him, "Ten kids were taken in the final raid while you were working to get the shield back on."

Rodney shut his eyes. And yeah, John could believe he was just going back to sleep if he hadn't seen the misty brightness of Rodney's eyes, if he didn't see the tell-tale moisture that seeped out of the corner of his eyes to roll down his cheeks. "McKay, listen, you did everything you could."

"It's not good enough," Rodney whispered. "There are kids dead because I wasn't fast enough. One is too many."

"You did everything humanly possible. Hell, you did somethings that weren't humanly possible and at the end of the day that's got to be enough."

Rodney opened his eyes then, and even with one good eye he skewered John with his level gaze, "Is it enough for you?"

John wanted to turn and walk out then. He wanted to protest that it wasn't about him, it was about Rodney. But he swallowed his protest. Sometimes you had to give up a piece of yourself to help other people. And Rodney deserved whatever John could give him that might help. He swallowed thickly and replied as honestly as he could, "No, no it's not. But Rodney, I learned a long time ago that you can't save everyone no matter how hard you try. You do the best you can and you go on." It was the hardest truth John had ever had to learn.

"What if it's not enough?"

"Rodney, it's got to be. You'll go crazy if you beat yourself up over every single person you can't save. Just… You have to tell yourself that at least those kids weren't fed on by the Wraith. That's the kindest thing you could have done for them." It's what John told himself over and over about Sumner.

"Does it work?"

John forced a smile. "Not always, but you cope and you go on. Hell, McKay," John scrubbed a hand through his hair, "you should be talking to Heightmeyer about this. Not me."

Rodney made a rude noise. "What does she know sitting in her nice safe office?"

"Well, you should talk to her, too, then." Because John was seriously out of his depth. "You know she thinks you're a hero?"

Rodney blinked up at him in confusion, his eyes narrowing at the sudden change in subject, "Heightmeyer?"

"No," John smirked down at him. "Cleo." He nodded at the bed on the other side of Rodney where Cleo slept curled into a ball. "She wouldn't leave until she knew you were alright. She's pretty stubborn when she sets her mind to it."

Rodney turned his head slowly to see her. He stared at her a long time. Then he said gruffly, "She just wants to make sure her chocolate connection is still safe."

"Yeah, buddy," John patted Rodney's good shoulder, "you just keep telling yourself that."

"Will it get better?" Rodney asked.

John nodded. "In time. And you've got a team now to make sure it gets better, McKay."

Rodney's eyes closed then, almost against his will and he drifted back to sleep. But it seemed like an easier sleep to John, his face was more relaxed. It would take time, but Rodney would be okay, he was sure of it. Like he'd told Rodney, he had a team now to make sure he was okay.

"I would like to sit with him for awhile if I may," Teyla had slipped in and stood on the other side of the bed.

John nodded. "Yeah, okay."

She pulled up a chair and sat on the other side of Rodney. She crossed her legs, something John would have thought impossible unless he saw it for himself, and fell into an easy meditation. John smiled.

Yeah, they were all part of a team now and they were there for each other.

He'd actually been surprised to see his team come for him on the Hive ship. He'd been pretty sure he was on his own. He'd lived so much of his life not needing anyone, not depending on anyone, he'd forgotten how it felt to look up and see that there was someone there he could lean on. But it was all changed now. And he felt a small warm glow that there was people who depended on him to keep them safe, people that he could depend on in return.

He stayed until he was sure Rodney was asleep once again. He nodded at Teyla who smiled at him, and then he scooped up his lap top and headed back to his office.

The office was still as claustrophobic, but it no longer held the ghost of Marshall Sumner. It was just a room like any other. A room with a damn good view. He'd have to thank Bates for that later.

John put the lap top down on the desk. He settled comfortably into the chair. Snagging one of Ford's reports from the basket, he leaned back in the chair and put his feet up on the desk. Flipping the report open, he began to read.

_As soon as we stepped through the wormhole into the city, the lights started going on…_

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I hope you enjoyed it! Written for the SGA Genficathon.

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